The Pandavas’ pilgrimage takes them to the banks of the Narmada, where Lomash tells them about the significance of the location. ‘This is the union of treta and dvapara,’ he says rather mysteriously, and then goes on to tell the story of a rishi named Chyavan, who once brought the king of the gods, Indra, to act as per his will. In ancient times, close to the very spot where the Pandavas now find themselves, the rishi Chyavan had begun his harsh austerities.
With the rishi standing perfectly still for decades, an anthill had grown all around his body, which was thus hidden. A king named Sharyati came to the same forest with his young daughter, Sukanya. The princess, perhaps bored by the goings-on in the royal forest camp, wandered around, coming close to the spot where the big anthill was. Seeing the princess, desire stirs inside Chyavan and his eyes begin to trace her movements excitedly.
The princess catches sight of two strange holes on the anthill, holes inside which lights seem to be fluttering. She thinks that these are fireflies and, in an action that is little more than a testament to her boredom, prick the animation inside the holes with sticks picked up from the ground.
Chyavan is thus blinded, and as his rage becomes apparent to king Sharyati, it becomes clear that the angry old brahmin has to be appeased at any cost. When asked what he wants from the king, Chyavan replies that the only way is if Sukanya accepts him as her husband. After the marriage, Sukanya’s beauty continues to invite attention, this time from two Ashwins, the physicians of the gods, who try to convince her to leave the senile Chyavan and choose one of them as husband.
Sukanya refuses, to which the Ashwins respond by offering to make Chyavan young and whole again, after which she is asked choose a husband from among the three of them. Needless to say, Sukanya chooses Chyavan after the reinvigoration process is over.
In return, Chyavan offers the Ashwins a drink of the soma at the grand sacrifice he is to conduct for his father-in- law, king Sharyati. Just when the soma is being offered to them, Indra obstructs proceedings, arguing that the Ashwins don’t deserve soma because they are only the servants of gods. Chyavan disagrees, and when the disagreement escalates, is required to paralyse Indra’s right hand, so that he wield the vajra over him.
There is a truce, but not before the rishi has brought to life a monster named Mada. This monster of inebriation is eventually distributed in ‘drinks, woman, gambling, and hunting’. At any rate, Indra concedes and the Ashwins get to drink soma with him. The young-again rishi Chyavan is the one whose name is used for the black ayurvedic potion called the Chyavanprash. Since it wasn’t him who made the Ashwins work the miracle of youth but his wife Sukanya, I wonder if Chyavanprash should actually be called Sukanyaprash.
Tanuj Solanki
Twitter@tanujsolanki
The writer is reading the unabridged Mahabharata